Purdue  University 


LAFAYETTE , INF 


BY 

PRESIDENT  E.  E.  WHITE. 

1878. 


&Vy 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 


BY 


EMERSON  E.  WHITE,  LL.D., 

PRESIDENT  OE  PURDUE  UNIVERSITY, 


DELIVERED  JULY  16,  1876. 


PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 


INDIANAPOLIS : 

SENTINEL  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 

1876. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


It  is  less  than  six  weeks  since  I informally  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  the  office,  now  formally  and  publicly  assumed. 
The  time  has  been  much  too  brief  for  the  work  undertaken, 
and  duties  which  should  have  commanded  a month,  have 
been  crowded  into  a week. 

This  will  be  regretted  by  all  who  have  any  knowledge  of 
the  number  and  nature  of  the  questions  involved  in  the  man- 
agement of  such  an  institution  as  this ; but  no  one  can  feel 
so  deep  a regret  as  he  who  bears  its  responsibility.  The 
duty  of  the  present  hour  is  to  call  attention  to  a few  of  these 
questions,  and  to  indicate  the  result  of  their  consideration. 

The  act  of  Congress,  donating  lands  to  endow  colleges 
“ for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,”  has 
proved  an  educational  Babel.  No  other  statute  relating  to 
education,  has  disclosed  such  a diversity  of  views,  or  occa- 
sioned such  a confusion  of  ideas.  The  plans  submitted  have 
been  sufficiently  numerous  to  bear  scattering  upon  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth! 

In  the  midst  of  this  confusion  and  conflict  of  opinion,  it  is 
too  much  to  expect  that  any  interpretation  of  the  act  will 
command  universal  approval.  Every  person  who  has  given 
thought  to  the  subject,  has  an  opinion  of  his  own,  and,  as  a 
rule,  the  less  the  thought  given,  the  more  positive  will  be  the 
view  entertained.  Education  is  one  of  those  subjects  of 
which  few  men  deem  themselves  ignorant.  A search  through 
a school  district  will  not  disclose  a person  who  can  not  tell 


4 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


the  teacher  just  how  to  teach  and  govern  a school.  The  man 
who  has  no  personal  knowledge  whatever  of  higher  educa- 
tion, general  or  special,  is  the  very  one  who,  at  the  first 
brush  with  the  question,  will  venture  to  decide  just  how 
these  land-grant  institutions  should  be  managed. 

These  facts  cause  me  to  shrink  from  the  expression  of  any 
opinion  respecting  the  object  of  the  grant  which  endowed,  in 
part,  this  University,  and  I certainly  should  forbear,  if  a 
proper  interpretation  of  the  act  was  not  the  first  step  in  the 
solution  of  the  problem  before  us. 

It  must  suffice  to  say  that  the  act  of  Congress,  referred 
to,  clearly  expresses  three  things.  The  first  is  that  the 
grant  was  intended  to  endow  a “ college  for  the  benefit  of 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.”  The  second  is  that  “ the 
leading  object”  of  the  college,  thus  endowed,  is  “to  teach  such 
branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.”  The  third  is  that  this  is  to  de  done*4  with- 
out excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies,”  and  “ in 
order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the 
industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of 
life.” 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  two-fold  purpose  of  the  grant  was 
to  endow  colleges — not  elementary  schools — (1)  for  the  benefit 
of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  and  (2)  for  the  promo- 
tion of  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes.  The  one  imperative  condition  is  that  the  teaching  of 
the  branches  relating  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts, 
shall  be  the  leading  object,  and,  as  a consequence,  that  the 
teaching  of  other  branches  shall  be  made  a subordinate  object. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  make  a more  exhaustive  analysis  of 
the  provisions  of  the  act,  since  it  expressly  leaves  the  manner 
in  which  these  two  great  ends  shall  be  secured,  to  the  several 
States.  Each  college  is  left  free  to  determine  for  itself  how 
the  two  classes  of  studies  specified  shall  be  taught,  and  how 
the  required  subordination  of  one  to  the  other  shall  be 
effected.  This  is  the  practical  question  which  now  con- 
fronts us.  How  shall  this  University  be  organized  to  meet 
its  obligation  to  the  great  industrial  interests  of  agriculture 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


5 


and  the  mechanic  arts?  What  course  of  study  and  instruc- 
tion will  secure  the  two  ends  proposed  and,  at  the  same  time, 
meet  the  imperative  condition  prescribed  ? 

It  will  assist  us  in  answering  these  questions  if  we  first 
settle  two  other  inquiries,  which  are  preliminary  and  funda- 
mental. What  “ branches  of  learning”  are  related  to  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts  ? Can  these  branches  be  made 
the  leading  element  in  the  required  course  of  liberal  educa- 
tion for  the  industrial  classes? 

The  branches  of  learning  most  directly  and  closely  related 
to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  are  the  natural  and 
physical  sciences,  and  next  to  these  is  the  science  of  mathe- 
matics. Inasmuch  as  the  mathematics  underlie  all  the  other 
sciences,  as  well  as  every  agricultural  and  mechanical  pro- 
cess, the  closer  relation  may  be  claimed  for  this  science,  but 
no  practical  error  will  be  made  in  assigning  the  natural  and 
physical  sciences,  with  their  many  applications,  the  nearest 
place. 

Can  these  sciences  be  made  a leading  element  in  the 
“liberal”  education  demanded  for  the  industrial  classes  by 
the  act?  This  will  depend  on  the  sense  in  which  the  term 
“ liberal  ” is  used.  A liberal  education  is  one  that  includes  a 
knowledge  of  literature  and  the  sciences  generally,  and 
hence  there  may  be  two  kinds  of  liberal  education.  In  the 
one,  literature  has  the  leading  place  and  the  sciences  are 
subordinate ; in  the  other,  the  sciences  have  the  leading 
place,  and  literature  is  subordinate.  The  former  is  usually 
called  a classical  education  and  the  latter  a scientific  educa- 
tion, the  name  being  determined  by  the  leading  element  in 
the  course. 

It  is  true  that  the  word  liberal,  when  applied  to  education, 
is  often  used  in  the  narrow  sense  of  classical,  but  this  is  not 
the  necessary  meaning  of  the  term  in  the  act.  It  is  there 
used  in  a more  general  sense  to  designate  an  education  that 
extends  beyond  the  branches  relating  to  the  industrial  arts, 
and  includes  “other  scientific  and  classical  studies.”  A 
course  of  higher  instruction  including  the  sciences  as  a lead- 
ing element,  and  the  languages,  literature,  and  history  as  a 


6 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


subordinate  element,  would  certainly  afford  a liberal  educa- 
tion for  the  industrial  classes.  Such  a course  is  now  provided 
in  the  popular  “ Scientific  Course  ” in  Michigan  Univer- 
sity, in  the  “ Course  in  Science  ” in  Cornell,  and  in  similar 
courses  in  other  American  colleges.  The  college  that  pro- 
vides such  a course  of  instruction,  with  the  required  subor- 
dination of  the  branches,  clearly  meets  the  condition  imposed 
by  the  grant.  The  education  thus  furnished  is  at  once- 
an  adequate  preparation  for  the  study  of  applied  science 
and  a good  general  preparation  for  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  of  life. 

I have  led  my  audience  to  this  conclusion  with  some  care, 
for  just  here  arises  one  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  that 
beset  the  land-grant  institutions.  It  is  supposed  by  some 
that  the  terms  of  the  grant  require  these  colleges  to  teach 
every  branch  of  learning,  and,  as  a consequence,  several  of 
them  are  making  a wide  and,  may  I add,  very  thin  spread  of 
their  teaching.  They  are  attempting  to  do  the  work  of  the 
classical  colleges,  of  schools  of  science,  of  polytechnic  schools, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  beat  about  over  a large  experimen- 
tal farm.  The  instruction  is  cut  up  into  an  appalling 
number  of  parallel  courses,  general  and  special,  and  the  few 
half-paid  professors  are  used  over  and  over,  if  not  used  up. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  provisions  of  the 
grant  to  prevent  an  institution,  with  a limited  endowment, 
from  attempting  to  play  university,  but  there  is  also  nothing 
that  demands  such  folly.  The  common-sense  view  of  the 
grant  is  that  it  requires  no  college,  endowed  by  it,  to  attempt 
to  do  what  it  can  not  do  well.  If  such  a college  can  do  any- 
thing to  meet  its  obligation  to  the  industrial  classes,  it  can 
provide  facilities  for  acquiring  a thorough  scientific  educa- 
tion— at  once  liberal  and  practical. 

When  this  is  done,  the  next  wise  step  is  to  provide  instruc- 
tion in  the  Applied  Sciences,  or  Technolgy.  The  relation  of 
such  instruction  to  all  industrial  interests  is  close  and  fruit- 
ful, and  the  land-grant  institution  that  falls  short  of  this,  fails 
to  do  what  is  most  needed  for  the  improvement,  not  only  of 
agriculture  and  the  mechanical  arts,  but  of  all  industrial 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


7 


interests  and  pursuits.  It  is  now  conceded  that  the  weak 
point  in  the  educational  system  of  the  West  is  the  absence  of 
schools  of  Science  and  Technolgy.  The  public  schools, 
academies,  and  colleges,  are  supplying  facilities  for  general 
education,  and  they  are  also  doing  something  in  the  teaching 
of  general  science.  What  is  needed,  to  supplement  these,  is  a 
few  well-endowed  and  well-equipped  institutions,  whichjshall 
not  only  teach  general  science  thoroughly,  with  so  much  of 
language  and  history  as  may  be  needed  for  efficiency  and 
completeness,  but  which  shall  carry  this  instruction  in  science 
forward  in  thorough  courses  of  applied  science,  the  number 
of  such  courses  being  determined  by  the  appliances  and 
resources  of  the  institution.  It  is  better  to  teach  a few 
applied  sciences  well  than  to  teach  many  in  a superficial 
manner. 

It  is  believed  that  the  interests  of  education  would  be 
subserved  if  the  work  in  all  our  higher  institutions  were 
narrowed  to  what  they  can  do  creditably.  It  takes  ne 
small  sum  of  money  to  endow  a college  of  literature  and 
general  science ; it  takes  much  more  to  endow  a college  of 
general  and  applied  science  , and  it  requires  an  immense  sum 
to  equip  and  run  a great  university.  Too  many  good  acade- 
mies have  been  spoiled  by  an  attempt  to  be  colleges,  and  not 
a few  useful  colleges  have  been  spoiled  by  an  ambition  to 
expand  into  universities. 

The  opinion  is  sometimes  asserted  that  a State  that  has  not  a 
broad  university  is  doing  little  or  nothing  for  higher  education. 
The  country,  undoubtedly,  needs  a few  first-class  universities, 
but  it  needs  quite  as  much,  if  not  more,  good  secondary 
schools  and  colleges,  each  doing  its  legitimate , though  narrow , 
work,  and  doing  it  well.  The  few  universities  needed  are  not 
to  be  formed  by  rolling  together  our  present  high  schools, 
academies,  literary  and  scientific  colleges,  and  technical  and 
professional  schools,  but  by  creating  institutions  which  shall 
crown  and  supplement  these  by  worthy  courses  of  more 
advanced  instruction.  The  university  in  this  country,  which 
is  most  pretentious  in  its  claims  and  most  depreciatory  in 
its  estimate  of  American  colleges,  does  not  give  a classical 
education  equal  to  that  of  modest  Williams,  or  superior  to 


8 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


that  of  a score  of  colleges  in  the  West.  Its  actual  instruction 
in  science  and  technology  does  not,  to  say  the  least,  excel 
that  given  by  Sheffield,  or  Stevens,  or  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  and  it  provides  few  professional 
courses. 

It  is  easy  to  overstate  the  advantages  of  a mere  collection 
of  schools  and  colleges  under  the  name  of  a university.  A 
student  doubtless  derives  some  benefit  from  seeing  the  appli- 
ances of  different  courses  of  instruction,  and  by  coming  in 
direct  contact  with  a large  body  of  students,  representing 
diverse  culture  and  knowledge ; hut  these,  and  other  advan- 
tages not  named,  may  be  greatly,  if  not  wholly,  offset  by 
unfavorable  influences.  A student  can  not  study  everything 
in  the  brief  period  of  four  or  six  years,  and,  as  a rule,  he  will 
receive  the  greatest  benefit  by  taking  a well-arranged  course 
and  mastering  it.  The  vital  thing  is  thorough  and  inspiring 
instruction  in  the  course  pursued,  and  no  aggregation  of 
schools,  or  courses,  or  professors,  or  students  can  take  its 
place  or  compensate  for  its  absence.  What  the  interests  of 
higher  education  most  imperatively  demand,  is  not  so  much  a 
consolidaton  of  our  schools  and  colleges  as  their  proper 
classification  and  adjustment — the  confining  of  each  to  the 
work  which  it  can  do  creditably  and  thoroughly  with  the 
resources  at  its  command. 

Whatever  may  be  true  of  other  institutions,  the  policy 
thus  indicated  is  believed  to  be  the  true  one  for  Purdue 
University.  Instead  of  exhausting  its  limited  resources  in 
doing  what  is  now  done  by  the  State  University,  and  the 
classical  colleges,  it  should  make  the  best  possible  use  of  its 
means  in  meeting  the  demand  for  scientific  and  technical 
instruction.  It  must,  of  course,  meet  , its  obligation  to  pro- 
vide a liberal  education  for  the  industrial  classes,  but,  as 
already  shown,  this  imposed  obligation  does  not  require  it  to 
spread  over  the  entire  ground  of  general  education.  It  must 
be  content  to  begin  with  the  cultivation  of  a narrow  field, 
and  to  do  its  work  so  well  that  it  may  confidently  look  to 
the  future  to  widen  its  domain  and  fill  the  import  of  its 
university  title. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


9 


These  views  and  principles  have  guided  in  the  reorgani- 
sation now  proposed,  and  they  have  been  embodied  as  com- 
pletely as  controlling  and  underlying  conditions  would  admit. 
The  fact  has  been  recognized  that  while  the  State  of  Indiana 
bas  an  ample  number  of  colleges,  it  has  few  preparatory 
schools  where  country  youth  can  make  necessary  preparation 
for  admission  to  either  classical  or  scientific  colleges.  Most 
of  the  few  academies  now  sustained,  either  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  common  schools  in  the  country  teach  reading 
and  spelling  and  the  other  common  branches  thoroughly, 
or  knowing  better,  they  yield  to  the  foolish  desire  of  pupils, 
and  permit  them  to  leave  needed  elementary  training 
and  enter  upon  higher  studies.  The  result  is  that,  after  a 
few  months  of  skimming,  they  are  either  satisfied  with  their 
attainments,  or,  having  lost  all  interest  in  their  studies,  they 
abandon  the  effort  to  obtain  a thorough  education.  The 
public  schools  in  cities  and  towns  can  and  ought  to  do  this 
preparatory  work  for  their  own  youth,  but  their  admirably 
graded  courses  of  instruction  are  poorly  adapted  to  pupils 
coming  from  the  ungraded  country  schools.  Besides  few 
farmers  will  be  at  the  expense  or  will  take  the  risk  of  send- 
ing their  children  into  cities  and  large  towns  to  prepare  for 
college  or  special  schools. 

Whatever  may  be  the  explanation,  the  fact  remains  that 
the  academies  and  public  schools  are  sending  comparatively 
few  well  prepared  students  to  college.  Nearly  all  the 
colleges  of  the  West  find  it  necessary  to  sustain  preparatory 
schools,  and  statistics  show  that  more  than  half  of  their 
students  come  from  the  schools  thus  organized. 

These  and  other  considerations  have  seemed  to  demand 
the  organization  of  a preparatory  school  in  connection  with 
this  institution.  The  only  alternative  suggested  is  to  let  the 
standard  of  admission  down  to  the  low  preparation  afforded 
by  the  country  schools,  and  to  this  there  are  serious  objec- 
tions which  I will  not  take  time  to  state.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  so  young  pupils  need  the  discipline  of  a school  to  aid 
them  in  acquiring  proper  habits  of  study  and  to  prepare 
them  for  the  liberty  of  college  life. 


10 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


PLAN  OF  RE-ORGANIZATION. 

Purdue  University,  as  re-organized,  will  embrace  three 
departments,  designated  as  follows:  1.  The  University 
Academy.  2.  The  College  of  General  Science.  3.  Special 
Schools  of  Science  and  Technology. 

The  Academy  will  have  the  two-fold  object  of  preparing 
students  for  admission  to  the  College  of  General  Science, 
and  of  providing  elementary  instruction  in  the  sciences  for 
those  who  can  not  take  a more  extended  course.  Botany, 
zoblogy,  and  physics  will  be  taught  orally  and  with  special 
reference  to  agriculture  and  the  simpler  mechanic  arts.  The 
Academy  will  be  provided  with  commodious  rooms  and  other 
appliances  necessary  for  thorough  teaching. 

The  College  of  General  Science  will  aim  to  give  a thor- 
ough scientific  education,  first  as  a general  preparation  for 
all  industrial  pursuits  and  the  duties  of  citizenship,  and  sec- 
ondly as  an  adequate  preparation  for  the  special  courses  in 
applied  science. 

The  course  of  instruction  is  similar  to  the  t;  Scientific 
Course”  in  several  other  American  colleges,  but  it  devotes 
more  time  to  the  natural  and  physical  sciences,  and  they 
will  be  taught  with  more  reference  to  the  industrial  arts. 
These  are  the  leading  branches  in  the  course,  requiring  more 
than  one-third  of  the  student’s  time  for  the  entire  period  of 
four  years.  Physics  and  chemistry  have  each  one  year,  and 
natural  history  and  geology  two  years.  The  course  in  math- 
ematics includes  the  branches  taught  in  the  best  colleges, 
but  more  than  the  usual  time  is  given  to  the  branches  below 
the  calculus,  which  is  made  an  optional  study.  The  course 
in  language  is  less  prominent,  but  the  instruction  in  English 
will  be  made  as  practical  and  comprehensive  as  possible. 
Every  educated  person  should  have  a knowledge  of  at  least 
one  language  besides  his  own,  and  candidates  for  a degree 
will  be  expected  to  study  either  Latin  or  German.  The 
instruction  in  history  will  be  distributed  over  the  first 
three  years,  and  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  not  only  impart 
some  knowledge  of  the  subject,  but,  what  is  better,  that  it 
may  create  a taste  for  historical  reading. 


IN  AUGUR  AX  ADDRESS. 


11 


The  course  for  the  Senior  year  is  largely  elective.  The 
student  who  has  satisfactorily  completed  the  first  three  years 
of  the  course,  is  prepared  to  select  intelligently  a more 
advanced  course,  and  to  pursue  it  successfully.  Candidates 
for  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  science  may  pursue  daily, 
during  the  senior  year,  three  branches  selected  Irom  the 
general  course ; or  they  may  devote  one-half  of  the  time  to  a 
special  course  in  applied  science,  and  the  other  half  to 
branches  selected  from  the  general  course.  This  will  enable 
a thorough  student  to  complete  any  one  of  the  special  courses 
in  one  year  after  graduating  from  the  College  of  General 
Science. 

The  general  course,  thus  briefly  sketched,  is  for  regular 
students  who  desire  to  take  a degree.  Students  who  may 
wish  to  pursue  special  branches,  selected  from  the  general 
course,  will  be  permitted  to  do  so,  provided  that  they  are 
prepared  for  their  perusal  in  the  regular  classes. 

The  University  has  the  necessary  appliances  and  is  other- 
wise prepared  to  give  special  courses  in  Agriculture,  Horti- 
culture, Civil  Engineering,  Physics  and  Mechanics,  Chem- 
istry and  Metallurgy,  and  Natural  History.  In  arranging 
and  announcing  the  instruction  in  these  Special  Schools,  care 
has  been  taken  to  keep  within  the  resources  and  facilities  of 
the  University.  The  instruction  offered  can  be  provided. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  industrial  arts  can  be  more 
effectively  promoted  than  by  the  agency  of  these  Special 
Schools.  All  of  the  professions,  including  the  law,  medicine, 
theology  and  teaching,  also  the  army  and  the  navy  and  the 
trade,  have  each  their  special  schools,  whose  value  and 
importance  were  long  since  settled.  They  are  regarded  as 
necessary  and  indispensable  means  of  preparation.  Do  not 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  need  similar  agencies  for 
their  improvement? 

It  is  true  that  the  proposed  course  in  general  science  will 
greatly  contribute  to  this  end,  but  something  more  than  this 
is  needed.  General  science  points  in  the  right  direction,  but 
applied  science  is  the  highway  to  intelligent  skill  in  all  the 
industrial  arts.  These  arts  are,  indeed,  but  applications  of 
science. 


i2 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


It  is  hoped  that  the  growth  of  the  University  in  the  future 
may  be  largely  in  this  direction.  Is  it  too  much  to  expect 
that  the  noble  gift  of  Judge  Purdue  will  yet  prove  a fruitful 
precedent  and  that  a group  of  well-endowed  special  schools, 
bearing  honored  names,  may  eventually  make  this  institu- 
tion a renowned  College  of  Science  and  Technology? 

SPECIAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  AGRICULTURE. 

I have  stated  that  the  University  is  prepared  to  give 
special  instruction  in  agriculture.  This  is  true  so  far  as 
appliances  are  concerned,  but  the  details  of  the  course  are 
not  yet  fully  arranged.  For  two  years  past,  two  courses  in 
agriculture  have  been  offered,  but,  for  some  reason,  not  a 
student  has  completed  either  course.  One  or  two  have  taken 
the  modified  course  in  botany  and  chemistry,  and  several 
have  assisted,  as  workmen,  in  laying  out  the  grounds  and  in 
planting  trees,  vines,  and  shrubbery,  with  some  incidental 
instruction.  The  farm  is  in  sight  and  the  students  at  all 
interested  in  agriculture  have  doubtless  visited  it,  and  thus 
gained  some  new  ideas  of  practical  farming.  All  this,  it 
must  be  confessed,  comes  far  short  of  what  my  predecessor 
and  his  associates  desired  and  proposed  to  accomplish,  and 
ibe  result  indicates  that  there  is  either  little  demand  for 
special  instruction  in  agriculture  or  that  the  right  instruc- 
tion has  not  been  offered. 

This  whole  subject  is  now  under  earnest  consideration,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  plans  may  soon  be  devised  which  will  prove 
more  acceptable  and  successful.  To  this  end  it  seems  desir- 
able to  avail  ourselves  of  the  experience  of  the  older  agricul- 
tural schools — to  learn  what  they  have  actually  done  in  this 
direction  and  what  are  the  practical  results — to  get  beneath 
pretentious  courses  and  plans  to  the  actual  work  accom- 
plished. It  is  not  a difficult  thing  to  keep  up  a show  of 
agricultural  instruction  by  means  of  an  experimental  farm 
.and  paper  courses  of  study,  but  Purdue  University  proposes 
to  play  no  such  part.  It  will  aim  to  meet  its  obligation  to 
agriculture  by  practical  and  effective  measures,  if  such  meas- 
ures can  be  discovered. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


13 


It  can  teach  the  science  of  agriculture  and  the  branches 
related  thereto,  as  stipulated  in  the  grant,  and  there  is  no 
question  respecting  the  practical  value  of  such  instruction. 
It  is  a question  whether  it  can  well  go  so  far  beyond  this  as 
to  teach  the  details  of  farming  by  actual  practice.  This  can  only 
be  settled  by  trial  or  by  an  appeal  to  the  experience  of  other 
institutions.  The  practice  of  the  professional  schools  raises 
at  least  a doubt  respecting  the  necessity  of  such  a course. 
The  law  schools,  for  example,  teach  the  principles  and  prac- 
tice of  law  by  lectures  and  books,  and  the  student  is  sent  to 
the  law  office  and  to  the  courts  to  learn  the  practical  details 
of  the  profession.  The  polytechnic  schools  provide  systematic 
practice  in  teaching  certain  arts,  but,  as  a rule,  the  arts  thus 
taught  are  very  unlike  farming.  The  students  who  enter 
our  agricultural  schools,  have  already  had  several  years’ 
experience  on  the  farm,  and  are  somewhat  familiar  with  its 
practical  details.  Whatever  may  be  true  of  the  value  of  this 
experience,  few  intelligent  farmers  would  think  of  sending  a 
boy  from  a well-managed  farm  to  an  agricultural  school  to 
learn  the  details  of  practical  farming,  This  would  seem 
much  like  sending  a young  lawyer,  with  several  years  of 
actual  practice,  to  a law  school  to  learn  the  details  of  his. 
profession. 

One  thing  is  evident.  If  students  are  to  be  taught  farm- 
ing by  actual  practice,  this  practice  must  be  on  a farm  which 
is  managed  on  business  as  well  as  scientific  principles.  It  is 
one  thing  to  run  a farm  with  a state  treasury  to  draw  upon 
to  pay  the  bills,  and  it  is  quite  another  so  to  manage  a farm 
that  it  may  pay  for  all  improvements,  and,  in  addition,  sup- 
port and  educate  a family.  It  is  questionable  whether  any- 
style  of  farming  that  does  not  pay  expenses,  can  properly  be 
called  practical.  It  may  serve  a good  purpose  as  a means 
of  investigation  or  illustration,  but  it  is  certainly  a poor  way 
to  make  a living. 

These  facts  seem  to  indicate  that  a farm  can  not  be  used 
both  for  experiment  and  for  teaching  practical  farming. 
Experiment,  like  experience,  is  a dear  school,  and  experi- 
mental farming  is  not  an  exception.  For  what  purpose 


14 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


shall  the  fine  farm  connected  with  this  University  be  used? 
Shall  it  be  made  a model  farm — an  illustration  of  good  farm- 
ing— or  shall  it  be  used  as  an  experimental  farm  ? If  used 
for  the  latter  purpose,  the  experiments  must  be  conducted  by 
a thorough  scientific  man — a man  who  is  practically  familiar 
with  agriculture  and  all  related  sciences,  and  who  knows 
the  conditions  of  an  experiment,  and  the  limitations  of  its 
results.  A superficial  empiric  in  such  a position  would  do 
the  cause  of  agriculture  more  harm  than  good.  It  would 
pay  the  State  of  Indiana  well  to  employ  a first-class  scien- 
tific man  to  conduct  series  of  observations  and  experiments 
in  the  interest  of  agriculture.  There  is  not  a shadow  of 
doubt  in  my  mind  respecting  the  great  value  of  such  investi- 
gations ; and  they  are  much  needed.  But  it  is  a question 
whether  a large  farm  is  required  for  a laboratory.  A field  of 
ten  acres  would  yield  about  the  same  results — stock-raising 
not  included — as  a farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  and  the  cost 
would  be  very  much  less.  The  necessary  variety  of  soil  and 
climate  for  reliable  results  can  only  be  secured  by  conduct- 
ing experiments  at  different  points  in  the  State. 

I am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  best  use  that  can 
be  made  of  the  farm  here  is  to  devote  say  ten  acres  to 
experimental  agriculture,  and  as  many  to  horticulture,  and 
to  make  the  rest  a model  farm — an  illustration  of  farming 
that  is  both  scientific  and  profitable.  It  may  be  well  to 
afford  students  daily  work  on  the  farm  for  the  purpose  of 
continuing  the  habit  of  labor,  and  also  to  enable  them  to  earn 
money  to  assist  in  defraying  their  expenses. 

But  this  subject  is  too  wide  for  this  occasion,  and  my  only 
object  in  discussing  it  is  to  show  that  it  involves  questions 
which  can  not  be  wisely  settled  in  a day  or  a month.  The 
whole  ground  needs  to  be  examined  and  all  difficulties  duly 
considered. 

Permit  me  to  add,  in  conclusion,  that  the  present  organiza- 
tion of  the  University  is  based  on  the  sound  educational 
principle  that  special  preparation  for  given  pursuits  should 
rest  up  on  a general  preparation  for  all  pursuits.  All  pur- 
suits have  a common  course  of  instruction,  and  the  mastery 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


15 


of  this  common  course  is  the  shortest  road  to  a knowledge  of 
those  branches  which  have  a special  application.  Many  of  the 
simplest  questions  of  agriculture,  for  example,  require  for 
their  solution  a comprehensive  knowledge  of  general  science, 
and,  besides,  the  student  of  agriculture  must  bring  to  the 
task  a mind  trained  to  habits  of  scientific  thought  and  inves- 
tigation. The  superficial  empiric,  with  a little  stock  of 
scientific  facts  in  his  head,  but  with  no  clear  insight  into 
their  causes  and  relations,  is  liable  to  blunder  at  every  new 
application  of  his  knowledge.  Even  practical  facts,  to  be  of 
practical  utility,  must  be  applied  by  an  intelligent  mind. 

Mr.  Opie,  the  great  English  painter,  was  once  asked  by  a 
student  with  what  he  mixed  his  paints  to  produce  such  effect 
in  color.  “With  brains,  sir,”  was  the  reply — an  answer 
containing  the  true  philosophy  of  both  art  and  business. 
The  prime  fact  even  in  getting  a living  is  brains — a mind 
keen -sighted  and  far-sighted,  and  steady  in  aim  and  purpose. 
Thought  is  the  alchemy  that  has  changed  plodding  toil  to 
many -handed  industry,  and  is  making  the  brain  of  the 
laborer  stronger  than  his  muscles.  Thought  has  gone  out 
into  the  harvest  field,  and  the  rusty  cradle  hangs  upon  the 
tree,  while  the  reaper,  with  its  stalwart  arms,  gathers  the 
ripened  grain. 

It  is  sometimes  urged  that  every  boy’s  education  should  be 
. narrowed  to  those  branches  that  directly  relate  to  his  future 
pursuit  or  calling.  Such  an  education  defeats  itself,  and, 
besides,  it  is  only  feasible  where  the  occupations  of  life  are 
inherited  and  predetermined.  In  this  country,  a child  is  not 
necessarily  born  into  the  occupation  of  his  father.  Here 
the  different  pursuits  stand  with  open  doors,  and,  as  a rule, 
neither  the  child  nor  his  parents  know  which  he  will  enter 
nor  how  long  he  will  remain.  How  few  Americans  find 
themselves  at  forty  in  the  pursuit  which  gilded  their  boyish 
day-dreams  at  fifteen ! 

These  facts  answer  an  objection  to  a prescribed  course  of 
study.  The  majority  of  students  come  to  the  beginning  of 
their  college  course  not  only  ignorant  of  their  aptitude  or 
power,  but  by  no  calculation  of  chances  can  they  foretell 


16 


PURDUE  UNIVERSITY. 


what  knowledge  they  will  need  in  the  affairs  of  life.  It  is 
only  after  a varied  trial  of  their  powers  in  the  mastery  of 
representative  studies  in  all  the  great  departments  of  knowl- 
edge, that  they  find  out  the  studies  and  pursuits  for  which 
they  have  special  taste  or  fitness.  It  is  one  of  purposes  of 
general  education  to  disclose  to  a student  his  bent  and 
mission. 

Moreover,  were  it  possible  to  groove  the  education  of 
every  youth  to  his  future  calling,  such  a course  would  not  be 
desirable.  “ Man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone.”  The  far- 
mer and  the  mechanic  must  also  be  the  guide  of  the  family, 
a member  of  society,  a citizen  of  the  State,  the  guardian  of 
liberty,  and  out  of  these  relations  flow  duties  which  are  the 
highest  concern  of  education.  In  educating  an  American 
citizen  we  are  not  training  an  English  operative  or  a Chinese 
coolie.  He  may  be  a hewer  of  wood,  but  if  his  life  answers 
life’s  great  end,  he  will  also  be  a hewer  of  error  and  wrong. 
Every  child  born  into  American  citizenship  is  confronted  by 
the  grandest  political  and  social  problems  of  earth’s  history, 
demanding  a breadth  of  information,  a ripeness  of  judgment, 
and  a catholicity  of  spirit. 

In  all  our  schemes  of  education,  let  us  not  forget  that  man 
is  more  important  than  his  work.  The  engineer  must  be 
swifter  than  his  engine,  the  plowman  wider  and  deeper  than 
his  furrow,  and  the  merchant  longer  than  his  yard-stick.  In 
education,  culture  must  ever  stand  before  knowledge,  and 
character  before  artizanship.  The  highest  result  of  education 
is  manhood. 


